Florida Cubans deported to Africa by ICE, then abandoned, ‘I honestly thought it was a bad joke because the officer laughed’

ICE is apparently sending Cubans from Florida to the Central African Republic and leaving them there. A report in the Tampa Bay Times details the story of a group of Cubans currently facing an uncertain future in the capital city of Bangui, where they are living out of a hotel.

The report quotes Yasmany Moreno, who spent over a year in ICE detention as authorities transferred him from one holding facility to another. Moreno, who apparently arrived in the United States on a temporary protected basis, said he and 35 other immigrants were finally ushered aboard a flight in Texas on July 30.

Five hours into the flight, the ICE officer escorting them began laughing and informed them they were being deported to Africa. As Moreno said, “I honestly thought it was a bad joke because the officer laughed, like he was making fun of me.”

“Like he was making fun of me”

They exited the plane to find themselves on the other side of the world, in a French-speaking country where they don’t know anybody, with no money, no passports, and no indication of what they should do next. The ICE officers then flew back to Texas, leaving them in a nation that the State Department says should be avoided due to “a risk of unrest, crime, kidnapping, landmines, health, and terrorism.”

Moreno and his fellow detainees say they “feel forgotten”, that the Central African Republic may move them to yet another country, and that they have been informed that they will have to vacate the hotel they’ve been temporarily placed in soon.

Moreno and six others have begun an online fundraiser, which says: “We are six Latinos who, after being deported to Bangui, Central African Republic, find ourselves in a very difficult situation, far from our families. We arrived in an unfamiliar place, without the resources necessary to cover our basic needs and start our lives anew.” They add: “We need to raise funds to pay for legal assistance, buy food and medicine, have internet access and communication so we can talk to our families, and get suitable clothes and shoes.”

As per the Tampa Bay Times, ICE said that they’re now on their own: “When an individual is no longer in ICE custody, then ICE will no longer be responsible for them. This is common sense.”

Hector Diaz, a partner at Your Immigration Attorney in Miami, sees it differently, describing this as “a clear abuse of humanitarian rights” and underlined: “To start to send people to Africa is really outlandish. They are basically in limbo. This raises severe due process abuses, along with very serious humanitarian concerns.”

The fate of those trapped in the Central African Republic is unknown. They cannot speak the language and are not permitted to leave the building they’re kept in without permission from a guard and then paying him to escort them. As one said: “It is a punishment that makes no sense. There is no other word for it. We have nothing.”